If you are looking for more info on the Front Squat X 3-3-3-3-3-3 STOP reading this post and go read this one... ------> http://katiesmindlessramblings.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-in-front-squat.html
Ok, seriously... I have gained back five pounds of all that fat that I lost and it feels gwoss. I really needed to hit up CF today... so hit up CF today I did. But since I'm off for a blessed for more days, I decided to sleep in and hit the 9am class. Apparently a few other people had that same idea and there was actually a pretty big crowd today at 9.
Although we hit max fronts X 3 about a week ago, Jerry brought 'em up again today. I have admitted that my glutes and hams are weak and are in dire need of some work... but seeing squats come up again today gave me a bit of a groan, but they need work, so work them I did. Unfortunately, our extra work today also involved burpees, but again... need to work them, so I did.
Last week when we hit the front squats, I topped at 140. I couldn't get 145 up and I think that's because I spent too much time on the lower weights. I think the key for me is to work up smarter and faster. I need to make more aggressive jumps so I don't burn out on lighter weights. So today, I decided to try being more aggressive. I worked in with Stacey and Rashed and after 2 sets with 35, I jumped to 85 and dove in. So, my sets today looked like this
85 X 3
105 X 3
115 X 3
125 X 3
135 X 3
145 X 3 (PR)
Last time I tried to put up 145 and failed twice. I didn't even get 1 rep up! So 145 is a new PR for me, and I'll take that after only working out here and there over the last few weeks and eating waaaaaaay too much crap and drinking too much. It felt good to hit that one today. Good to work the glutes and hammies. After that Jerry left some finishing work for us. I really wanted to do the extra work as some more funishment for all the really bad things I've been doing lately. The extra work looked like this.
Metcon ninja
7 RFT
11 Wall ball
11 Pull-ups
11 Burpes
or
Express ninja
7 RFT
11 Pull-ups
11 Burpees
Now, let me tell you that I hit burpees and push-ups pretty hard while I was home. I mean, I did 49 in lucky 7's, then 50 burpees in Funishment, plus 50 push-ups too. I'm just about push-upped and burpeed out. So I wasn't thrilled to see them in the line-up today, but I was glad to see chins because I've left a lot to be desired on the pull-up bar lately. It was good to get back to doing some more. And yes, I do still need to work the push-ups and the burpees so it was good to do them too, but man. Ugh, I hate those things. I did the express ninja (after the squats I didn't trust myself to do wall ball) but I didn't remember to grab a stopwatch.
To be honest, I just needed to do the extra work. I wasn't so concerned about the time, but more concerned with putting the work in. I finally got paid (yes being paid once a month totally sucks!) and I'm going to hit the grocery store. I strict zoned for about a week about three weeks ago, and I'm going to try to get back on it seriously after the holidays are over. Being at home it was so hard to eat well.... my parents house is just not stocked for it. But after looking at the scale the last few days... ugh... I really need to get away from the junk. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get back in the habit... but for now... I'm going to nap... since I can... mwah mwah mwah! :)
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday's workout: Funishment
Ok, so seriously, this whole me feeling fat and lethargic thing needs to stop... that means that holiday cookies and all sorts of good tasty stuff needs to go away... like now... because lord knows I do not have the will power to deny the cookies.... damnit! Now because I have no willpower and because I cannot turn down cookies, I decided I needed a funishment workout... literally I needed to kick my own ass.
So, I went back through CFOT's blog and looked for a workout that looked like a significant enough ass kicker to be deemed a funishment workout... I found one from a few sundays ago and modified it a smidgen, but it worked pretty well for me. Funishment looks a little something something like this...
Funishment
For time
25 pull ups (pull up grips were retardo so I subbed strict presses with 20lb dumbells)
50 clean and jerks (65lbs done from the hang since I had to be careful not to drop)
50 burpees
50 abmats (done on incline ab bench)
50 box jumps (subbed 50 air squats)
50 push-ups
25 pull ups (subbed strict presses with 25 lb dumbbells)
This time, since I knew I needed more room, I went to the Gold's Gym that just opened not to long ago by my house. It's a nice gym, lots of AWBM (angry white boy music)and more space than the Y. The only problem with said Globo Gym... a one time workout fee? $12... WTF mate? In central PA? Are you joking? I'm not in DC here... c'mon... my old gym charged $6. Too bad they are currently closed for renovations. They also didn't care if I used chalk or ocassionally dropped a weight... oops... my bad dog! Seriously, I was really annoyed with Gold's, but I needed a space for my Funishment. So, I was pretty much stuck. But anyhoo, I looked around for what I needed and got myself pretty much situationated.
I did the strict presses, which felt really heavy because, AGAIN, I had neglected to warm up properly. I'm not sure what it is, but in the globo gyms I totally spaz on warming up. Anyhoo, the stricts felt very heavy, but my arms were also a smidge sore from doing the burpees the day before. Cleans felt good, although not as fast as I would have liked, especially since I wasn't pulling from the floor. When we did this before, Jerry made us pull from the floor. Well, with no one but me for form faults, and my feel of just accidentally dropping the weight, I decided to hang clean instead. I was able to connect all the clean and jerks. I didn't have to pause on my shoulders for any of them which was really nice. I was able to keep going mostly in sets of 5 and then 3/4 at the very tail end. For 50 reps, I thought that was a pretty steady set.
I know I rested way too much on those cleans though... but without everyone else around it was certainly a lot harder to push myself. Burpees, eh, what can I say? Push ups, still a nemesis. Therefore, burpees, still a nemesis. The dude who was working out at the same time as me started looking at me a little funny when I started doing burpees, but what can I say? I guess jumping from a push-up into a squat and then clapping overhead does look a little funny.
Sit-ups and squats went ok. I was bothered by my squat form again though. I hate lifting in shoes. Seriously. It's amazing how much that affects me now. I've gotten so used to being flat on the Jiu Jitsu mats that shoes drive me nuts. It actually hurt my knees a lot. I felt like they were tracking different. Annoying... very...
Push-ups alone took me like 10 minutes, but I gritted through them and refused to cut standard. Chest to the deck and I really focused on keepin the core tight. I have a bad habit of letting my lower back sag on the way up. Tight core is key.
The last set of stricts was ridiculous. My arms were F-R-I-E-D. That 20lbs was retardo heavy. I'm glad I did not go 25. Yikes.
Total time 33:55 Over 4 minutes slower than before, and that's with faster mods... yikes... guaranteed... same exact workout as last time when I did it in 29:05 probably would have been well over 40 minutes..... I'm losing ground these days... time to step it up. The new year is coming... time to get back on track. 5 days a week plus strict zoning. It's seriously go time. Time to start being a CrossFit ninja!
So, I went back through CFOT's blog and looked for a workout that looked like a significant enough ass kicker to be deemed a funishment workout... I found one from a few sundays ago and modified it a smidgen, but it worked pretty well for me. Funishment looks a little something something like this...
Funishment
For time
25 pull ups (pull up grips were retardo so I subbed strict presses with 20lb dumbells)
50 clean and jerks (65lbs done from the hang since I had to be careful not to drop)
50 burpees
50 abmats (done on incline ab bench)
50 box jumps (subbed 50 air squats)
50 push-ups
25 pull ups (subbed strict presses with 25 lb dumbbells)
This time, since I knew I needed more room, I went to the Gold's Gym that just opened not to long ago by my house. It's a nice gym, lots of AWBM (angry white boy music)and more space than the Y. The only problem with said Globo Gym... a one time workout fee? $12... WTF mate? In central PA? Are you joking? I'm not in DC here... c'mon... my old gym charged $6. Too bad they are currently closed for renovations. They also didn't care if I used chalk or ocassionally dropped a weight... oops... my bad dog! Seriously, I was really annoyed with Gold's, but I needed a space for my Funishment. So, I was pretty much stuck. But anyhoo, I looked around for what I needed and got myself pretty much situationated.
I did the strict presses, which felt really heavy because, AGAIN, I had neglected to warm up properly. I'm not sure what it is, but in the globo gyms I totally spaz on warming up. Anyhoo, the stricts felt very heavy, but my arms were also a smidge sore from doing the burpees the day before. Cleans felt good, although not as fast as I would have liked, especially since I wasn't pulling from the floor. When we did this before, Jerry made us pull from the floor. Well, with no one but me for form faults, and my feel of just accidentally dropping the weight, I decided to hang clean instead. I was able to connect all the clean and jerks. I didn't have to pause on my shoulders for any of them which was really nice. I was able to keep going mostly in sets of 5 and then 3/4 at the very tail end. For 50 reps, I thought that was a pretty steady set.
I know I rested way too much on those cleans though... but without everyone else around it was certainly a lot harder to push myself. Burpees, eh, what can I say? Push ups, still a nemesis. Therefore, burpees, still a nemesis. The dude who was working out at the same time as me started looking at me a little funny when I started doing burpees, but what can I say? I guess jumping from a push-up into a squat and then clapping overhead does look a little funny.
Sit-ups and squats went ok. I was bothered by my squat form again though. I hate lifting in shoes. Seriously. It's amazing how much that affects me now. I've gotten so used to being flat on the Jiu Jitsu mats that shoes drive me nuts. It actually hurt my knees a lot. I felt like they were tracking different. Annoying... very...
Push-ups alone took me like 10 minutes, but I gritted through them and refused to cut standard. Chest to the deck and I really focused on keepin the core tight. I have a bad habit of letting my lower back sag on the way up. Tight core is key.
The last set of stricts was ridiculous. My arms were F-R-I-E-D. That 20lbs was retardo heavy. I'm glad I did not go 25. Yikes.
Total time 33:55 Over 4 minutes slower than before, and that's with faster mods... yikes... guaranteed... same exact workout as last time when I did it in 29:05 probably would have been well over 40 minutes..... I'm losing ground these days... time to step it up. The new year is coming... time to get back on track. 5 days a week plus strict zoning. It's seriously go time. Time to start being a CrossFit ninja!
Friday's workout: Lucky 7's
So, in case you were worried that I have been lazy over the holidays this week, I just want to tell you to rest your weary soul, because I have not been. I know you were probably really worried, and you were all atwitter... yup... don't worry. I've worked out this week. :P
I don't know about anyone else, but lately I have been feeling especially fat and sluggish. I was determined, and I mean DETERMINED to get some workouts in this week. After all the food that's been put in front of me... good lord I needed some CF time. So on Thursday my sis and I headed out to the new YMCA that's been built near our house. The free weight room was really small. I was thinking about doing Angie since that was Thursday's WOD, but I tried to do a pull-up on their pull-up bar and thought that 100 on that apparatus just was not going to happen. So, I started thinking about things I hadn't done in awhile, and what I could do in that limited space. So, I came up with Lucky 7's... here's how it goes...
7 RFT
7 front squats
7 snatches
7 burpees
Time: 21:00
Ok, I really wanted a good metcon burner and this little circuit seemed like it was going to be. I started with 95 lbs on the front squats and after three rounds had to drop down to 65. I was over ambitious for the day after Christmas, and I hadn't warmed up nearly enough for that. Snatches felt good with 25lbs, butI need to be very careful. I noticed I was starting to go too far back in the active shoulder position so I need to work on keeping my arm in line with my ear and not further back. In a metcon situation, it's very easy to aim for speed and forget that.
The front squats on this really sucked, but the burpees and snatches felt pretty good. I did noticed a huge difference though in wearing shoes. When the money is right, I really need to get a good pair of lifting shoes. Running shoes aim to correct your arches etc for running, not lifting and it definitely f's with my squat form. I really wanted to kick off my shoes but didn't want to get in trouble.
But anyhoo, this one is a good little smoker... I'm not happy about the front squat weight, but aside from that things felt ok. Globo gym is never an ideal place for a workout... no one to work with, or push you... being alone is wicked hard.... I really commend the people who do CF on their own all the time. It would drive me insane. As would what happened with the dudes in the corner.
Mind you, I know how much I can lift. I know I can throw around some serious weight. I hit my 140 clean and jerk the other week, THAT to me is a little crazy. But no no, these dudes were standing in the free weight room watching me walk back and forth between the front squats, snatches, and burpees. I do believe I heard something to the affect of "What is this chick doing. She's totally NUTS!" Ok, seriously? Lucky sevens is nuts? Thank god I didn't do something you know like, oh Murph, or Fran, or Cindy, or Angie... those are more on par with being nuts... idiots... complete idiots... good job guys, keep doing your bicep curls... idiots... cause bicep curls and shoulder shrugs are going to get you far... GOOD WORK... idiots...
I don't like being called crazy all the time... sort of makes me feel like the crazy cat lady and I know I'm not THAT bad... but seriously, if Lucky 7's is crazy... I'll take crazy over not having a neck because I've done too many shoulder shrugs any day of the week. Stupid globo gymers... ooooh something different than what we do... it must be crazy... if only they knew... morons...
I don't know about anyone else, but lately I have been feeling especially fat and sluggish. I was determined, and I mean DETERMINED to get some workouts in this week. After all the food that's been put in front of me... good lord I needed some CF time. So on Thursday my sis and I headed out to the new YMCA that's been built near our house. The free weight room was really small. I was thinking about doing Angie since that was Thursday's WOD, but I tried to do a pull-up on their pull-up bar and thought that 100 on that apparatus just was not going to happen. So, I started thinking about things I hadn't done in awhile, and what I could do in that limited space. So, I came up with Lucky 7's... here's how it goes...
7 RFT
7 front squats
7 snatches
7 burpees
Time: 21:00
Ok, I really wanted a good metcon burner and this little circuit seemed like it was going to be. I started with 95 lbs on the front squats and after three rounds had to drop down to 65. I was over ambitious for the day after Christmas, and I hadn't warmed up nearly enough for that. Snatches felt good with 25lbs, butI need to be very careful. I noticed I was starting to go too far back in the active shoulder position so I need to work on keeping my arm in line with my ear and not further back. In a metcon situation, it's very easy to aim for speed and forget that.
The front squats on this really sucked, but the burpees and snatches felt pretty good. I did noticed a huge difference though in wearing shoes. When the money is right, I really need to get a good pair of lifting shoes. Running shoes aim to correct your arches etc for running, not lifting and it definitely f's with my squat form. I really wanted to kick off my shoes but didn't want to get in trouble.
But anyhoo, this one is a good little smoker... I'm not happy about the front squat weight, but aside from that things felt ok. Globo gym is never an ideal place for a workout... no one to work with, or push you... being alone is wicked hard.... I really commend the people who do CF on their own all the time. It would drive me insane. As would what happened with the dudes in the corner.
Mind you, I know how much I can lift. I know I can throw around some serious weight. I hit my 140 clean and jerk the other week, THAT to me is a little crazy. But no no, these dudes were standing in the free weight room watching me walk back and forth between the front squats, snatches, and burpees. I do believe I heard something to the affect of "What is this chick doing. She's totally NUTS!" Ok, seriously? Lucky sevens is nuts? Thank god I didn't do something you know like, oh Murph, or Fran, or Cindy, or Angie... those are more on par with being nuts... idiots... complete idiots... good job guys, keep doing your bicep curls... idiots... cause bicep curls and shoulder shrugs are going to get you far... GOOD WORK... idiots...
I don't like being called crazy all the time... sort of makes me feel like the crazy cat lady and I know I'm not THAT bad... but seriously, if Lucky 7's is crazy... I'll take crazy over not having a neck because I've done too many shoulder shrugs any day of the week. Stupid globo gymers... ooooh something different than what we do... it must be crazy... if only they knew... morons...
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Merry Christmas... do Murph...
When Jerry sent out the email on Monday that said dress for a run tomorrow... I started to wonder what pain he had in store for us on Tuesday. Then, when I saw the next sentence, I knew exactly what he had in store. Bring body armor or wear a weight vest if you have it... my first thought? "Oh f*ck" I knew exactly what that meant. Murph is one of those things you know... I really wasn't feeling Murph, but I got up at 0445 to get to class to get started. I know how long Murph takes me. It's not pretty... and I knew if I didn't jump on the clock early, I'd never get it done.
I have weaknesses as an athlete. My hamstrings are weak, and I'm weak on bodyweight exercises, ie burpees, push-ups, and air squats. Seeing as how Murph has two of these things, it just doesn't bode well for me. But nonetheless, it's hard to ignore a hero workout. So, despite the fact that I didn't really want to, I went.
As I drove past TC Williams I noticed that their outdoor thermometer was reading 16 degrees. Yup, that's right 16. I wore running pants, a matching tank top, a breathable wicking layer, and then a fleece on top. I was determined not to freeze outside.
I stretched out and got ready to get on the clock. I was all alone but I needed to get going. I jumped on the clock around 0515 and hit the run. On lap one of our large building I didn't feel too bad. The cold hadn't really set in. On lap two, my eyes started to water, and I actually started to cry from the cold. Not intentionally, it just happened. My hands started to freeze, and so I tucked them inside my sleeves and gritted my teeth the best I could.
I got inside and started on the chins. I haven't done many chins lately, and they just don't feel as good as they used to. I don't know why, but they don't. So I was struggling to get comfy on a bar and rip out some chins, when Jerry says, aren't you going to partition? And I said partition? Last time you said we couldn't partition! He said I was crazy, he did to tell us we could... I think he's crazy... I don't think he let us in August, so regardless, I shot myself in the beginning because then I was slowed down by trying to do an equal number of pushups and squats to even myself up so then I could get to partitioning. Duh...
So, all in all, this workout blew big time. I slowed down by nearly 8 minutes. Yeah... that sucks. It took me 1:08. I just can't get this workout to go faster. It is frustrating that I can clean x amount of weight, and squat x amount of weight, but I can't do bodyweight stuff. I felt so icky. I know I'm complaining, I know I am.... cause seriously, at least I finished. But I really wasn't happy with this at all. I'm going to be sure to get to the globo gym over the next few days so that I can work on getting back into better shape than where I am now. I feel like I've slipped a lot and I don't like it. I also am going to get back on the Zone. I've been having some money/time issues, but it is way past high time for me to kick the crap I've been eating, and get back to Zoning. The pants are not fitting the same, and that tells me all I need to know.
Bad workouts, plus bad pant fit= Katie needs to kick her own ass.... yes, I will... as soon as I get paid... yar...
I have weaknesses as an athlete. My hamstrings are weak, and I'm weak on bodyweight exercises, ie burpees, push-ups, and air squats. Seeing as how Murph has two of these things, it just doesn't bode well for me. But nonetheless, it's hard to ignore a hero workout. So, despite the fact that I didn't really want to, I went.
As I drove past TC Williams I noticed that their outdoor thermometer was reading 16 degrees. Yup, that's right 16. I wore running pants, a matching tank top, a breathable wicking layer, and then a fleece on top. I was determined not to freeze outside.
I stretched out and got ready to get on the clock. I was all alone but I needed to get going. I jumped on the clock around 0515 and hit the run. On lap one of our large building I didn't feel too bad. The cold hadn't really set in. On lap two, my eyes started to water, and I actually started to cry from the cold. Not intentionally, it just happened. My hands started to freeze, and so I tucked them inside my sleeves and gritted my teeth the best I could.
I got inside and started on the chins. I haven't done many chins lately, and they just don't feel as good as they used to. I don't know why, but they don't. So I was struggling to get comfy on a bar and rip out some chins, when Jerry says, aren't you going to partition? And I said partition? Last time you said we couldn't partition! He said I was crazy, he did to tell us we could... I think he's crazy... I don't think he let us in August, so regardless, I shot myself in the beginning because then I was slowed down by trying to do an equal number of pushups and squats to even myself up so then I could get to partitioning. Duh...
So, all in all, this workout blew big time. I slowed down by nearly 8 minutes. Yeah... that sucks. It took me 1:08. I just can't get this workout to go faster. It is frustrating that I can clean x amount of weight, and squat x amount of weight, but I can't do bodyweight stuff. I felt so icky. I know I'm complaining, I know I am.... cause seriously, at least I finished. But I really wasn't happy with this at all. I'm going to be sure to get to the globo gym over the next few days so that I can work on getting back into better shape than where I am now. I feel like I've slipped a lot and I don't like it. I also am going to get back on the Zone. I've been having some money/time issues, but it is way past high time for me to kick the crap I've been eating, and get back to Zoning. The pants are not fitting the same, and that tells me all I need to know.
Bad workouts, plus bad pant fit= Katie needs to kick her own ass.... yes, I will... as soon as I get paid... yar...
Monday, December 22, 2008
2 circuit smoker...
So today was one of those days where Jerry gives us two shorter circuits to smoke us. I haven't really hit metcon much lately, just because of when I've been in due to scheduling issues, so it was good to get some good metcon in. Our first little circuit was a doozy, and I was a little nervous about the weight once I saw it.
Circuit #1
15-12-9-6-3
Deadlifts (145lbs)
TGU (25lbs)
Total time: 15:30
I was worried about this weight because this is the weight that I hit on Diane (15-12-9) when I royally messed up my back. I woke up in extreme amounts of pain that next day... So when I saw 145 I sort of himmed and hawwed and was going to go below, but once I warmed up I felt ok. I know I rounded a little bit during the circuit but it wasn't nearly as bad as two Fridays ago. I was able to fly pretty quickly through the TGUs and actually felt pretty good about this one today. I didn't rest much. There was a little resting though... so overall this one wasn't too bad.
Then I took a gander at circuit #2. I was running low on time, but lately I haven't been doing the extra or feeling extra crazy, so I really wanted to finish both circuits today. So I dove into circuit #2 after a little bit of a breather.
Circuit #2
20 box jumps
40 ab mats
Total time:13:56
Talk about weak core muscles. Hokey pat! The box jumps were a little slow because of the deads and the front squats yesterday, as well as the jumping lunges... but the ab mats were what killed my time. Seriously. I sucked up the place on the ab mats. I really need to start doing more extra work and get down the ab mat at the end for some quick finishers. Wow... my core muscles are getting weeeeeeeeeak. It may be all the holiday eating too... I'm just sayin'...I'll own it. :P Ah... Jerry assured us tomorrow will be a doozy. I'm wondering if it's going to be the 12 days of Christmas... oh god if it is... I will be hurting tomorrow....
Circuit #1
15-12-9-6-3
Deadlifts (145lbs)
TGU (25lbs)
Total time: 15:30
I was worried about this weight because this is the weight that I hit on Diane (15-12-9) when I royally messed up my back. I woke up in extreme amounts of pain that next day... So when I saw 145 I sort of himmed and hawwed and was going to go below, but once I warmed up I felt ok. I know I rounded a little bit during the circuit but it wasn't nearly as bad as two Fridays ago. I was able to fly pretty quickly through the TGUs and actually felt pretty good about this one today. I didn't rest much. There was a little resting though... so overall this one wasn't too bad.
Then I took a gander at circuit #2. I was running low on time, but lately I haven't been doing the extra or feeling extra crazy, so I really wanted to finish both circuits today. So I dove into circuit #2 after a little bit of a breather.
Circuit #2
20 box jumps
40 ab mats
Total time:13:56
Talk about weak core muscles. Hokey pat! The box jumps were a little slow because of the deads and the front squats yesterday, as well as the jumping lunges... but the ab mats were what killed my time. Seriously. I sucked up the place on the ab mats. I really need to start doing more extra work and get down the ab mat at the end for some quick finishers. Wow... my core muscles are getting weeeeeeeeeak. It may be all the holiday eating too... I'm just sayin'...I'll own it. :P Ah... Jerry assured us tomorrow will be a doozy. I'm wondering if it's going to be the 12 days of Christmas... oh god if it is... I will be hurting tomorrow....
Max front squats 3-3-3-3-3
It seems that Sunday's are becoming a strength day, and I for one am a ok with that. I love strength days and I'm ok with that. Last week when we were doing hang squat cleans I hit 140 but got stuck trying to get up with 145. So, I wasn't really sure where this one was going to lead, it's been a awhile since we've done much front squating, and I own my weakness which is my legs. Particularly my hamstrings and gluteus maximus. :P So, I was hoping to get 135 and I did. So then I was really hoping to get 140, which I did. So then I was really hoping to get 145, which I did not. It seems that 145 is my sticking point right now. My hamstrings and core just aren't strong enough. Always something to work on isn't there? My rounds looked like this.
65 X 3
85 X 3
105 X 3
115 X 3
125 X 3
130 X 3
135 X 3
140 X 3
145 (F)
145 (F)
140 was a PR, so I was happy with that, but man, it would have been nice to hit 145. Curses... maybe next time... maybe next time... :)
Oh! But I almost forgot about the finisher! Ah yes... the finisher...
5 RFT
10 KB high pull (50lbs)
10 jumping lunges
10 push ups
Jumping lunges after max front squats? I swear Jerry is a masochist at times.... I still love 'im though... :)
65 X 3
85 X 3
105 X 3
115 X 3
125 X 3
130 X 3
135 X 3
140 X 3
145 (F)
145 (F)
140 was a PR, so I was happy with that, but man, it would have been nice to hit 145. Curses... maybe next time... maybe next time... :)
Oh! But I almost forgot about the finisher! Ah yes... the finisher...
5 RFT
10 KB high pull (50lbs)
10 jumping lunges
10 push ups
Jumping lunges after max front squats? I swear Jerry is a masochist at times.... I still love 'im though... :)
Friday, December 19, 2008
The bubonic plague strikes again..
I've been struck by the bubonic plague again... curses... I didn't make CF this morning cause I felt like a big steaming pile of poo. Thankfully though there are no boils... thank God for small favors, cause man THAT could be awkward... try explaining that to people... oi... hopefully I'll be up and running by sunday... I need to CF. Otherwise that Grace time is going to plummet!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Kelly
Kelly, she sounds all sweet and innocent doesn't she? Holy crap, cause she's so not. Kelly is a metcon burner. Seriously. As Rx'd she looks like this.
Kelly
5 RFT of
400 M run
30 box jumps
30 wall balls
I am not a metcon ninja. I will also own that as well as my deadlift weakness. So today was not something I was excited about. Instead of finishing all 5 rounds, all the ladies of 0530 did three, which is still a lot of work no matter how you slice it. I finished in 23:55, but I'm sure that our metcon ninja ladies of the other classes will bust out not only the full 5, but probably the full 5 in a time faster than mine. I had to laugh though that since I brought up the whole metcon ninja thing, Jerry made it the phrase of the day. Ha.... metcon ninja. Tehe... it makes me laugh... :) Which is good, cause after an 18 hour work day yesterday and the return of the bubonic plague, I need to laugh. God, please bring Christmas break faster... pretty pretty please...
Kelly
5 RFT of
400 M run
30 box jumps
30 wall balls
I am not a metcon ninja. I will also own that as well as my deadlift weakness. So today was not something I was excited about. Instead of finishing all 5 rounds, all the ladies of 0530 did three, which is still a lot of work no matter how you slice it. I finished in 23:55, but I'm sure that our metcon ninja ladies of the other classes will bust out not only the full 5, but probably the full 5 in a time faster than mine. I had to laugh though that since I brought up the whole metcon ninja thing, Jerry made it the phrase of the day. Ha.... metcon ninja. Tehe... it makes me laugh... :) Which is good, cause after an 18 hour work day yesterday and the return of the bubonic plague, I need to laugh. God, please bring Christmas break faster... pretty pretty please...
Heavy deads 3-3-3-3-3
Oooh... deads messed with me on Friday so I wasn't too happy to see these come up again so soon, but nonetheless I put on my "Go get 'em tiger" face and tackled them the best I could. I was really focused on not rounding. I'm still losing core tension though. I really need to get that down if I'm ever going to be good at deads. My hamstrings are my weak point on my body. I will own that weakness. Shoulders, strong like ox. Legs, weak like sissy girl. Yup. I said it. But anyway, my highest reps looked like this.
135 X 3
155 X 3
175 X 3
180 X 3
185 X 3
My dead PR is only 195. So I was pretty please with the weights for this. I just wish I could not round my back. Always something to work on right? :P
135 X 3
155 X 3
175 X 3
180 X 3
185 X 3
My dead PR is only 195. So I was pretty please with the weights for this. I just wish I could not round my back. Always something to work on right? :P
It was another swimming kind of day...
So I didn't hit the blue room on Monday or Tuesday. I just wasn't feeling it to be quite frank. But, on Tuesday I was feeling sluggish and decided a workout was in order. So I decided to hit the pool. So I did. Just in case you're interested in what I did, here it is. :) (Or so best I can remember... it was two days ago... :P)
500 Warm-up
8 X 50 @1:00 (hung around :38)
100 easy
5 X 200 swim/kick by 50 @ 4:00 (hung around 3:15) could have done this at a faster interval
100 easy
6 X 50 kick @ 1:15 (hung around :50)
12 X underwater 25 @ :40
8 X 25 @ :30 (hung around :17)
100 Warm down
Total yardage 3,000
Not as fast as last time, but still down in about an hour and ten minutes. Not too shabby.
500 Warm-up
8 X 50 @1:00 (hung around :38)
100 easy
5 X 200 swim/kick by 50 @ 4:00 (hung around 3:15) could have done this at a faster interval
100 easy
6 X 50 kick @ 1:15 (hung around :50)
12 X underwater 25 @ :40
8 X 25 @ :30 (hung around :17)
100 Warm down
Total yardage 3,000
Not as fast as last time, but still down in about an hour and ten minutes. Not too shabby.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Hang squat cleans 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Cleans are like my absolute most favoritist thing to do. I heart cleans. So I was stoked to go in and see hang squat cleans on the menu today. I'm not as good at squat cleans as just straight up cleans, but eh, what the hey. It's still a clean right? So anyhoo, the workout was of course hang squat cleans heavy 1-1-1-1-1-1-1.
Well, I started out light so I could get a good warm-up in and then I just started throwing weight on. I was really hoping to hit 130/135 and as I was inching up I thought I felt pretty good. So, I kept going. Next thing I knew, I cleaned 135 and squated it. That's a clean max for me! Then, I was feeling frisky, so I tried 140 and got it! Woot! Then, I tried 145. I failed all three times, but you know what, I got the clean up. My fail was driving back out of the whole. But hey, you know what, I'll take that. :) So, a new clean and squat PR at 140lbs. Woot! :)
Well, I started out light so I could get a good warm-up in and then I just started throwing weight on. I was really hoping to hit 130/135 and as I was inching up I thought I felt pretty good. So, I kept going. Next thing I knew, I cleaned 135 and squated it. That's a clean max for me! Then, I was feeling frisky, so I tried 140 and got it! Woot! Then, I tried 145. I failed all three times, but you know what, I got the clean up. My fail was driving back out of the whole. But hey, you know what, I'll take that. :) So, a new clean and squat PR at 140lbs. Woot! :)
Diane
Friday was Diane, and although Diane does not look like she will take it to you, for some reason on Friday, she did. I thought, oh, ok, deadlifts and HSPU. Well, Jerry told me that I could sub strict presses for the HSPU's, so I did. But for some stupid reason, my brain was just not with it on Friday and I was losing focus on the deadlifts. I rounded out a LOT, and just wasn't really feeling the workout. I know that happens to the best of us every now and again, but still it doesn't mean I like the feeling. Diane as Rx'd looks like this,
15-12-9
Deadlifts
HSPU (my sub was 25lb db strict presses)
Women's weight-145 lbs.
I woke up on Saturday and my back was screaming. I know I f'ed up the deads. Ouch. My time for this was over 12 minutes. Ouch. :(
15-12-9
Deadlifts
HSPU (my sub was 25lb db strict presses)
Women's weight-145 lbs.
I woke up on Saturday and my back was screaming. I know I f'ed up the deads. Ouch. My time for this was over 12 minutes. Ouch. :(
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Gwen
Ah, today I got to meet Gwen.... she's not very friendly, and she doesn't play nice. If you've never done Gwen, it looks deceivingly easy. I know I know. We say that all the time. It didn't look that bad on paper! Yeah, they don't ever look bad on paper. Well, that's a lie. Sometimes they actually do look bad on paper. LOL.
Sooooo my dear fair Gwen. She is a nice little smoker. She looks like this.
15-12-9
Clean and jerk
Touch and go only
No regrip from the floor
Rest between each set
Seeing as how I can clean and jerk 135 lbs, I wasn't sure what to do for this. I loaded my bar to 85 and wow did it ever feel heavy. So, with Jerry's ok, I dropped to 75 before I did my 15 reps. Even dropping to 75 felt super heavy. But, I did it. I had to rest in the rack a few times, but I didn't foul. Well, actually I think I did because we weren't supposed to dump the weight and I did. Ooops. Crap. But, it felt good to get in. Since I've been on for four days straight I took a rest day today, but tomorrow I'm sure I'll be back in and hopefully have more stories to tell. Ooooh, maybe tomorrow I'll regal you with the story of the lady at the gym who we're plotting to mess with... ;)
Sooooo my dear fair Gwen. She is a nice little smoker. She looks like this.
15-12-9
Clean and jerk
Touch and go only
No regrip from the floor
Rest between each set
Seeing as how I can clean and jerk 135 lbs, I wasn't sure what to do for this. I loaded my bar to 85 and wow did it ever feel heavy. So, with Jerry's ok, I dropped to 75 before I did my 15 reps. Even dropping to 75 felt super heavy. But, I did it. I had to rest in the rack a few times, but I didn't foul. Well, actually I think I did because we weren't supposed to dump the weight and I did. Ooops. Crap. But, it felt good to get in. Since I've been on for four days straight I took a rest day today, but tomorrow I'm sure I'll be back in and hopefully have more stories to tell. Ooooh, maybe tomorrow I'll regal you with the story of the lady at the gym who we're plotting to mess with... ;)
2 swim caps and 3,000 yards later...
So after being a guinea pig, my shoulders were not happy with me AT ALL. So I intentionally took a CF rest day yesterday. No amount of coersion was going to get me out of bed to do more push-ups. Nuh uh. So, I decided that, well since I'm at the pool anyway, I may as well swim. I would just like to state for the record that I have not been in the pool in any sort of workout situation in over a year. I stopped swimming masters last fall because I fell in love with CF. We had to break up. (I hear that the masters is doing just fine in case you're worried). Anyhoo, I had a sort of rotten day yesterday and so I decided to hit the water hard and punish myself pretty good. However, my equipment was lacking and I destroyed two swim caps before I got into the water... dang it. Anyhoo, despite not being in the water for over a year, I felt solid. Although, when I got out, my old master's coach told me that I was sloppy and messy and choppy. Hmmm... I felt good then got a nice cold bath of reality. Thanks, coach. But, I got some good metcon in and in just over an hour hit 3,000 yards. To do that without being in the water should tell you something about how well CrossFit really crosses across sports. Dare I say that my traps felt a little weak? (Jerry is now going to put ring dips in every workout next week... crap) But aside from that, I felt strong even if my old coach did tell me it looked like crap. (I think he was partially kidding because he's trying to goad me back into joining masters again. As it so happens, my old coach from my masters team is my head coach for the team I coach with..... hmmmmm.... Jedi mind games perhaps much?) Anyhoo, if you want a run down of my swimming work, here it is... it may not make much sense, but eh... I'm cool with that.
Warm up- 500 free
Set 1- 6 X 50's @ 1:00 (hung around :35)
2 50's Easy
Set 2- 8 X 25's breaststroke on :45 (hung around :17/:18)
100 Easy
Set 3- 6 X 50's kick @1:15 (hung around :50)
Set 4- 4 X 100 IM @ 2:00 (hung around 1:25)
100 Easy
Set 5- 8 X Underwater 25 (no breath) @ :45 (hung around :25)
100 Easy
Set 6- 6 X 74 free @ 1:15 (hung around :55/1:00)
Warm down 100 Easy
Warm up- 500 free
Set 1- 6 X 50's @ 1:00 (hung around :35)
2 50's Easy
Set 2- 8 X 25's breaststroke on :45 (hung around :17/:18)
100 Easy
Set 3- 6 X 50's kick @1:15 (hung around :50)
Set 4- 4 X 100 IM @ 2:00 (hung around 1:25)
100 Easy
Set 5- 8 X Underwater 25 (no breath) @ :45 (hung around :25)
100 Easy
Set 6- 6 X 74 free @ 1:15 (hung around :55/1:00)
Warm down 100 Easy
Monday, December 8, 2008
Being a guinea pig...
So, you know it's going to be a good morning when Jerry tells you first thing that you're going to be a human guinea pig. Hmmm... or not. First thing this morning Jerry told us that we were his experiment. Great... I love being tested! :P
So, after that 4:48 Grace I busted out, let me just say, I was hurting big time. My traps were fried. I haven't had that "Hey, we've been doing cleans" feeling in a long time, but let me reassure you (cause I'm SURE you're worried) that it definitely was in full effect. So the workout went like this.
AMRAP in 12 minutes
7 chins
7 burpees
My total 8.5
AMRAP in 12 minutes
10 good mornings (I wasn't looking when Jerry loaded my bar, and then he added more weight... so I think 45 or 55...sneaky Jerry)
20 med ball ball ball sit ups (15 lbs)
My total 5 rounds
Please note that after our workout, Jerry did change the workout!!!! Curses.... I hate being a Guinea Pig... :P
My shoulders absolutely positively were crying this whole time. When I had to put the bar on my back for good mornings I just wanted to drop it the whole time, and seriously, it was only 10 of them! Ugh. But hey, I get the points for showing up and for putting out some effort. Hooah to me! :)
So, after that 4:48 Grace I busted out, let me just say, I was hurting big time. My traps were fried. I haven't had that "Hey, we've been doing cleans" feeling in a long time, but let me reassure you (cause I'm SURE you're worried) that it definitely was in full effect. So the workout went like this.
AMRAP in 12 minutes
7 chins
7 burpees
My total 8.5
AMRAP in 12 minutes
10 good mornings (I wasn't looking when Jerry loaded my bar, and then he added more weight... so I think 45 or 55...sneaky Jerry)
20 med ball ball ball sit ups (15 lbs)
My total 5 rounds
Please note that after our workout, Jerry did change the workout!!!! Curses.... I hate being a Guinea Pig... :P
My shoulders absolutely positively were crying this whole time. When I had to put the bar on my back for good mornings I just wanted to drop it the whole time, and seriously, it was only 10 of them! Ugh. But hey, I get the points for showing up and for putting out some effort. Hooah to me! :)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Grace Challenge
So, CFOT has borrowed a little sumpin' sumpin' from Petranek Fitness and started a benchmark workout challenge. Our first benchmark challenge workout is Grace. Here's how it works. There are different groups, depending on the weight used. There is an overall elite winner and an overall advanced winner for both women and men. There is also an overall winner for the most improved. Everyone pays an entry fee, and then the money goes into the kitty to be divided for the prize money. The division you chose is the division you stick with. There are groups for beginner, intermediate, advanced, and elite athletes on the challenge. But whatever group you choose, you have to stick with it through the challenge. So, our first test was today, and the final test will be in February, after 8 long weeks of work.
So, I showed up a little later than the 830 class start time because I was dragging a bit this morning, and I knew we were doing this in heats. So I watched some of the other heats run through before jumping into the next to last one. I decided to go elite since, well I did Grace before with 115 lbs, and well, yeah. So, I used a bar that someone had already loaded to 100lbs and away I went. I was able to touch and go for most of the first ten. Then after that I broke into a few sets of three, and Danny, who was an AWESOME counter today, told me that at 2:00 in I had done 16. I was over halfway. I started to get very tired, and had to break down into touch and gos of two before dropping the bar. But Danny and Big Brother Gar were there to keep me moving and they were AWESOME. Having them keep me on the bar really helped me to get a good workout in today. By the mid twenties I was dropping to singles, but they said form was still good which made me happy. At about 4:00 I was on rep 24. Danny was pushing me to get in under 5:00. With :30 left until that magic number I was on rep 27 and had 3 more to go. At 4:48 I called time.
For all the stress I've been under lately, the bubonic plague, working so damned much and not eating well... I was damn happy with that time. Not only was it sub 5:00, but it was sub 5:00 with an over rx'd weight. Female Grace is prescribed with 85 lbs. I went with 100lbs on the bar. That made me happy. I haven't been that happy with a performance in the blue room in awhile. It just plain felt good. Now we'll just have to see if I can hold off the other women in the elite category over the next few weeks. They are tough as nails and I'm going to have to work my butt off. But hopefully I'll get to see my name at the top of the elite category in a few weeks. We shall see... we shall see....
So, I showed up a little later than the 830 class start time because I was dragging a bit this morning, and I knew we were doing this in heats. So I watched some of the other heats run through before jumping into the next to last one. I decided to go elite since, well I did Grace before with 115 lbs, and well, yeah. So, I used a bar that someone had already loaded to 100lbs and away I went. I was able to touch and go for most of the first ten. Then after that I broke into a few sets of three, and Danny, who was an AWESOME counter today, told me that at 2:00 in I had done 16. I was over halfway. I started to get very tired, and had to break down into touch and gos of two before dropping the bar. But Danny and Big Brother Gar were there to keep me moving and they were AWESOME. Having them keep me on the bar really helped me to get a good workout in today. By the mid twenties I was dropping to singles, but they said form was still good which made me happy. At about 4:00 I was on rep 24. Danny was pushing me to get in under 5:00. With :30 left until that magic number I was on rep 27 and had 3 more to go. At 4:48 I called time.
For all the stress I've been under lately, the bubonic plague, working so damned much and not eating well... I was damn happy with that time. Not only was it sub 5:00, but it was sub 5:00 with an over rx'd weight. Female Grace is prescribed with 85 lbs. I went with 100lbs on the bar. That made me happy. I haven't been that happy with a performance in the blue room in awhile. It just plain felt good. Now we'll just have to see if I can hold off the other women in the elite category over the next few weeks. They are tough as nails and I'm going to have to work my butt off. But hopefully I'll get to see my name at the top of the elite category in a few weeks. We shall see... we shall see....
Friday, December 5, 2008
As psycho as you want to be...
So, as psycho as you want to be... huh. Now there's an interesting idea. LOL. Today's workout was just F-U-N fun... ok, so I'm lying through my teeth, but you know... fun is all relative people! :P So anyhoo, today's workout looked a little something like this. I know it's a wee bit confusing, but try to hang with me. :)
AMRAYWTD (As Many Rounds As You Want To Do)
6:00 on the clock
Run 400 Meters
Finish the remaining time of the 6:00 with AMRAP of one of the following exercises
Box Jumps
Chins
Push ups
Walking Lunges
Burpees
Muscle Ups
KB Swings
And there was one more but I forget what it was...
So anyhoo, I didn't suck wind on this too badly actually... until the fourth round. I did box jumps (40) push ups (41) and then chins (33) and the chins just wiped the mat with me. I was smoked. So the last round when I ran and then did walking lunges just sucked. I felt the bubonic plague taking it out of me and called it after 4 rounds. So I guess I'm only moderately psycho? :P Maybe if we do this again I'll be completely psycho... but I'll have to go with jumping muscle ups...
AMRAYWTD (As Many Rounds As You Want To Do)
6:00 on the clock
Run 400 Meters
Finish the remaining time of the 6:00 with AMRAP of one of the following exercises
Box Jumps
Chins
Push ups
Walking Lunges
Burpees
Muscle Ups
KB Swings
And there was one more but I forget what it was...
So anyhoo, I didn't suck wind on this too badly actually... until the fourth round. I did box jumps (40) push ups (41) and then chins (33) and the chins just wiped the mat with me. I was smoked. So the last round when I ran and then did walking lunges just sucked. I felt the bubonic plague taking it out of me and called it after 4 rounds. So I guess I'm only moderately psycho? :P Maybe if we do this again I'll be completely psycho... but I'll have to go with jumping muscle ups...
Thursday, December 4, 2008
I miss Fran, and the infinite hotness of Jeff Yan
So, I knew today was going to be Fran and I wanted to go, really I did. But I worked all three jobs yesterday and didn't roll home until after 11. After doing some work for swimming I hit bed sometime after midnight. I love Fran and I love Jerry, but combined with the bubonic plague, 0445 was NOT happening this morning. So, I missed Fran.
But, on a happy note, I would just like to touch on one of my favorite topics... Jeff Yan. If I haven't mentioned it recently, he is one AMAZINGLY HOT specimen of CrossFitness. If you ever happen to be in NYC you really ought to go check him out...er, I mean check out the Black Box and meet him. ;) He is also a great brunch companion! ;) Just be careful if you work out with him... it can be distracting to work out with someone who has such amazing CrossFit prowess.
(Jeff Yan has not been feeling the love from my blog lately. I hope this helps. You can also help Jeff feel the love by reminding him of his infinite hotness and amazingly mad awesome CrossFit skills!)
But, on a happy note, I would just like to touch on one of my favorite topics... Jeff Yan. If I haven't mentioned it recently, he is one AMAZINGLY HOT specimen of CrossFitness. If you ever happen to be in NYC you really ought to go check him out...er, I mean check out the Black Box and meet him. ;) He is also a great brunch companion! ;) Just be careful if you work out with him... it can be distracting to work out with someone who has such amazing CrossFit prowess.
(Jeff Yan has not been feeling the love from my blog lately. I hope this helps. You can also help Jeff feel the love by reminding him of his infinite hotness and amazingly mad awesome CrossFit skills!)
Strict Press 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
So, yesterday we did some max strict work. Jerry is right about one thing. Strength gains in a strict press come in small increments. Seriously. Strict press vs. a push press or push jerk is way different, and IMHO way harder to PR on. Strict press is just that, it's strictly your upper body strength. And as we all know, that doesn't just magically grow overnight. It takes time, and for those of us who are somewhat impatient and like to see growth quickly, wellllll.... we just need to keep in mind that that's not quite going to happen. Strength gains take time. In an exercise where there is no hip function (as opposed to many of our other exercises which do have hip function) there is no way to get that extra pop or drive. It's solely on your shoulders and arms. And man oh day, is it hard to make leaps and strides in a strict press. So anyhoo the rounds looked like this
1-65
2-75
3-85
4-87
5-90
6-92
7- 93
8-94 (F)
So, 93 lbs was a new PR for me by 2 lbs. In the strict press, that feels like 20 lbs. So I was pretty happy with that. I'm still not back 100%. This freakin' bubonic plague won't go away. Yar. So sick and tired I will take a new strict press PR. Woot. Until next time.
1-65
2-75
3-85
4-87
5-90
6-92
7- 93
8-94 (F)
So, 93 lbs was a new PR for me by 2 lbs. In the strict press, that feels like 20 lbs. So I was pretty happy with that. I'm still not back 100%. This freakin' bubonic plague won't go away. Yar. So sick and tired I will take a new strict press PR. Woot. Until next time.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Tabata who?
Ah yes, who DOESN'T love some Tabata? *raises hand* Yeah, I'm not so much a fan. Honestly, I know it has its place and it's point and purpose, but I'm just not good at it. I looked back at my blog and saw that the last time we did this I hit 312. This time I only hit 306. I was a little disappointed when I realized that my score went down, but, as Jerry says, if we could PR everytime we walked into the Blue Room, we'd all be in the Olympics. But still, it never feels nice when you don't do as well as you'd like. For those of you who've never done Tabata Something Else, it goes a little something like this.
Tabata Something Else
:20 work
:10 rest
8 intervals of each of the following exercises
Chins
Push-ups
Ab Mats
Squats
And yes, as I write this, my abs STILL hurt, and so do my quads for that matter. I reiterate my former statement, I dislike tabata! Roar.
Tabata Something Else
:20 work
:10 rest
8 intervals of each of the following exercises
Chins
Push-ups
Ab Mats
Squats
And yes, as I write this, my abs STILL hurt, and so do my quads for that matter. I reiterate my former statement, I dislike tabata! Roar.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Under the weather...
After arriving home last week for the turkey holiday, I managed to come down with a cold. I'm feeling just very run down and haven't made it to CF in a few days. Hopefully I'll be back in tomorrow, but we'll see how I feel when I wake up. CF is hard because I usually feel the crappiest when I wake up, then feel better as I get up and go about my day. But, I started from scratch on the Zone and am going to do my darndest to get back to a strict Zone diet again. I had my fruit and yogurt for breakfast and two zone meals yesterday, so maybe getting my diet under control will help me get back up and on my feet full throttle, but we'll see.
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